Neil's Moroccan Snapper (Poh's Kitchen)

 Yesterday for lunch I cooked Neil Perry's moroccan snapper recipe from Poh's Kitchen recipe book. Instead of using snapper fillets we chose to use a whole snapper. I have to admit whole fish erks me a little (not eating but preparing) so I got my husband to put slits in the side so the chermoula could flavour the fish.

The chermoula was easy to make and delicious. The fish was marinated in it for an hour before placing in some foil and pouring over a mix of lemon juice and honey, followed by finely sliced preserved lemon (this I found at The Essential Ingredient - but I might have a go at making my own). I sealed up the foil and my lovely husband cooked it on our baby weber Q. It took longer then expected, say 40 minutes, but once cooked the fish was so moist and perfectly cooked. Perfect for an outdoor lunch on a lovely summer day.

 I served the dish with pearl couscous (also known as israeli couscous) and steamed broccolini.

I really enjoyed this dish. My husband also enjoyed the dish besides finding the preserved lemon overpowering and my daughter who is a lemon lover said 'its a bit strong'. I personally loved the preserved lemon. So I guess it depends on your taste. The couscous was great, my daughter especially liked it.

Poh's Pandan and Coconut Crepes

On our little camping trip on the weekend i also decided to make Poh's 'green' crepes, since only stove top (or in our case camping stove was required). I thought it would be fun!
I found this link for the recipe but i used it from Poh's kitchen recipe book http://ten.com.au/24._Apple_Cinnamon_and_Pandan_Coconut_Crepes_28.10.10.pdf
This time i was able to head to an asian shop on the way and buy pandan paste - 95 cents! I love asian shops. I can't believe how green it is - does it have food colouring as well??

First i made the coconut filling just on the stove with less palm sugar then the recipe suggested. Mixed up my crepe batter according to recipe. It was a great idea, easy to cook, lots of laughs attempting to flip the crepes, and my daughter (along with passers by) were amused at the green coloured 'pancakes'.

I thought they were yummy, and very appropriate to eat camping actually. I didn't make the salted sauce as Poh suggested it was optional, next time i might try it.

Yesterday my daughter wanted pancakes for lunch "white ones please mummy"!

Poh's melting moments

I visited a friend yesterday and hence wanted to take something. My plan was Poh's pandan and coconut crepes, but with no pandan that wasn't going to happen. So i opted for the simpler melting moments.
They are a reasonable basic recipe (250g butter, 1/3cup icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 1/2cups plain flour, 1/2 cup cornflour) but the final mix felt quite dense. Possibly i didn't mix enough but i have learnt to not over mix biscuit doughs. I hoped to make them pretty by using a fluted piping nozzle as Poh did but unfortunately my fluted nozzle was too small. So after piping with a normal nozzle i thought they were just asking to be turned into jam drops....

And once baked (for a lot longer then Poh's - my oven is so so unreliable) they were a really lovely bite size snack. I thought a little on the firm side. I already have a similar recipe from my grandmother that i have adapted and i can't help but like my one more. The dough if far less versatile - you need to be gentle - but the result is a truly melting quite crumbly biscuit.
So you gently cream together 125g butter and 1/2 cup icing sugar. Sift cornflour (1/2cup), s.r.four (1/2cup) and custard powder (3tbsp). Carefully fold in, spoon on trays and bake for 15 min at 180. They are my favourite biscuit recipe and i have tried heaps of variation with nuts, chocolate, jam etc. All delicious.

Poh's macaroons

On the weekend i had my very first attempt at macaroons. I used the recipe from Poh's kitchen - i was very kindly given the book so it is slightly different to the link.

 http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s2895326.htm

I also reduced the amounts i used to make a smaller batch. So my first problem was the mixture was slightly too thick (i needed extra egg white i think), this i could tell after i piped them out and they held their shape so well. They also didn't form much of a 'crust' at this sitting stage.

I only used pink food colouring as an addition. The  next problem i had was my oven. I tried to cook at such a low temperature but my gas oven would completely go out so i was forced to cook in a hotter oven. The result being a shorter cooking time and my macaroons browned.

I joined my macaroons with jam as this was my first attempt rather then preparing a buttercream. But actually they tasted so good, only too sweet with jam filling, that next time i will make the effort amd prepare a proper filling.

The final result i was quite pleased with. Even though they were brown the flavours were beautiful, the top had a nice crisp texture and the inside lovely and moist. They also had a nice shine to them. I think if i had made the mixture a little less thick so they flattened and had a more reliable oven they would have been perfect!